Protection from prior COVID-19 infection was better than the protection from COVID-19 vaccines against the Delta virus variant, according to a new study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Researchers analyzed health records from California and New York that were entered between May 30 and Nov. 20, 2021. They separated COVID-19 patients into four groups: unvaccinated with no previous COVID-19 diagnosis, unvaccinated with a previous COVID-19 infection, vaccinated with no prior COVID-19 infection, and vaccinated with prior COVID-19 infection. Those who had not received a COVID-19 vaccine but were infected previously with the illness were much less likely to test positive for COVID-19 when compared to vaccinated people who had not gotten COVID-19, according to the study, which was published Wednesday in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. People who had not gotten a vaccine but did have a prior infection, also known as natural immunity, …